Dennis Norman
According to a Vacation Home Buyers Survey conducted by the National Association of REALTORS (NAR), vacation-home sales rose 7.9 percent in 2009 to 553,000 sales from 513,000 in 2008. For comparison purposes, primary residence home sales rose 7.1 percent in the same period.
NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said, “The typical vacation-home buyer is making a lifestyle choice, with nine out of 10 saying they intend to use the property for vacations or as a family retreat,” he said.
The vacation-home share of the home sale market increased from 9 percent of all homes sold in 2008 to 10 percent in 2009. The median sale price of a vacation home in 2009 was $169,000, up 12.67 percent from $150,000 in 2008. The increase in median price does not necessarily mean that the value of vacation homes rose in the past year, or at least not to the extent the median home price increased, but likely means that there have been increased sales of vacation homes in higher-cost areas such as Florida and California where prices are luring people back into the market.
Other highlights of the survey:
- 50 percent of the vacation homes purchased in 2009 were in the South, 21 percent in the West, 17 percent in the Midwest and 12 percent in the Northeast.
- 70 percent of the vacation homes purchased were detached single-family homes
- 30 percent of the vacation home buyers in 2009 paid cash for their vacation home.
- Typical vacation home buyer in 2009 was 46 years old, had a median houshold income of $87,500 and purchased a property that was a median distance of 348 miles from their primary residence; 34 percent were within 100 miles and 40 percent were more than 500 miles.
- 75 percent of vacation home buyers were married couples.
- Vacation home buyers plan to keep their property for a median of 16 years.
- NAR’s analysts estimate that there are 7.9 million vacation homes in the U.S. compared with 75 million owner-occupied homes.
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
the best vacation homes are those that are located near the beaches, they are really cool .’*